West Ham United right-back Ryan Fredericks has dismissed any thoughts that training at the club over the international break is a piece of cake for those not called up by their respective national teams.
A number of Manuel Pellegrini's squad headed off to link up with their national team squads, with the players left behind facing a lengthy break until the resumption of the Premier League.
Pellegrini has been in no mood to give those players left behind an easy time in training though and Fredericks admits that tough sessions have been put on.
The full-back revealed that Pellegrini has made sure the players know that they cannot ease off despite their decent start, as he aims to iron out inconsistency.
"It’s been really tough", Fredericks told West Ham's official site.
“I think people get the perception that the international lads go away and we’re just out there playing head tennis or taking it easy, but that’s definitely not the case.
"The hardest sessions were the ones at the end of last week. The manager has drilled us into us that we’ve started well, but we still have loads of work to do.
“We don’t want to be inconsistent, win a few games, then lose a few games and end up in the same position as last season."
Fredericks added that the players have fully bought into Pellegrini's methods and relish the intense training sessions the Chilean and his staff put on.
"We really want to push on this year and the manager makes it clear that we need to be on it in every session.
"Training is intense, but this is what he wants and it’s what we want.
“We built a good base in pre-season with tough sessions and tough games and I think we came into the season in a good place fitness-wise, so we can’t take it easy.
"We’re playing in the most demanding league in the world, so we can’t take our foot off the gas as it’s hard to catch back up.”
West Ham went into the international break on the back of two consecutive league wins, sitting seventh in the Premier League standings, and will be looking to build on the momentum when club football returns this weekend.
Pellegrini's men take on Aston Villa on Monday 16th September in their next league game.
